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Roy Hibbert gets some love from Sports Illustrated Writer

The ball found its way to Pacers center Roy Hibbert in the third quarter of Indiana's upset of the Lakers in Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant was doubling frantically in the high post, throwing tight, jumping-jack defense at Hibbert wherever he turned. But Hibbert didn't seem to mind. He waited and waited despite Bryant's harassment until point guard Darren Collison appeared behind Hibbert's left shoulder to receive his pass for a backdoor layup.

"I feel like I have eyes in the back of my head," said Hibbert. "Being at Georgetown we had a passing offense where the ball went through me. I try to do that here -- if people throw the ball down to me and they cut, I'm going to get it right back to them."

Few NBA offenses run as much motion around the post as the surprising 10-10 Pacers, but then few teams have a center who can pass as well as 7-foot-2 Hibbert. It's no coincidence that Hibbert spent three days last summer working with Bill Walton, the Hall of Famer who was the finest passing center of modern times.

"[Bill] had a drill from the high post," said Hibbert, "and he was like, 'Just make passes between your legs, behind your back.' They were silly passes to the guards while they were moving, and he was like, 'Don't be afraid to make those passes.

"We watched tape on Hakeem [Olajuwon], we watched Pau Gasol and David Robinson and how they were able to see guys [cutting] and they didn't think twice about making those passes. It just came natural to them, and Bill said I have that [ability] so I should do it."

At 23, Hibbert has emerged as an enormous reason to believe in the promising future of these young Pacers. Through Dec. 9, his scoring is up to 15.3 points per game (from 11.7 last year), he's averaging a team-high 8.4 rebounds (up from 5.7), 3.0 assists (from 2.0) and 1.9 blocks (from 1.6) in 29.8 efficient minutes. Since last season, Hibbert has lost 35 pounds, found a cure for exercise-induced asthma (he uses an inhaler morning and night after his condition was diagnosed last summer) and developed confidence that is on display during the pregame introductions, when he raises both hands high at the sound of his name, whether at home or away. That last bit comes from Walton.

"He said you have to love yourself," said Hibbert. "He was like, 'You have to be all about yourself!' I told him, 'Basically what you're telling me is swag.' Come out like this."

He raised both arms.

"All eyes on me," said Hibbert. "I do it now because of Bill, that's why I come out like that."

The Pacers are the most entertaining .500 team in the league. There is little that's average about this team, apart from its so-so record. They are a startling No. 1 in field-goal defense (42.7 percent) thanks in part to the leadership of Danny Granger, the ball pressure of T.J. Ford and the improved paint defense of Hibbert. They rank No. 1 in blocks (6.8) and No. 4 in rebounds.

If they push the ball across midcourt within 2.5 seconds, then coach Jim O'Brien rewards them by refusing to call a play: They either finish the break or else flow into their passing-game offense that makes full use of Hibbert's versatility. He can finish as both a roller and a popper as he has an excellent 19-foot jump shot, which he tends to convert as an afterthought when his passing options are covered. Other times when his teammates are weaving and flurrying around him he looks -- dare I say it -- like a modern-day version of Walton himself.

"[Louisville coach] Rick Pitino, whose team played against Roy's, said, 'He's not a good passer; he's a great passer," said O'Brien. "And he is. And he will get better. He turns the ball over too many times right now (2.5 per game this season), but that's just him getting a feel for his teammates. The more he gets used to playing with these guys, he'll have a 2-1 assist-turnover ratio. He'll average, I believe within a year or two, seven assists a game."

Hibbert weighs 278 pounds after shedding the pounds since last season. He keeps his body fat at 8 percent (down from 14 percent last year) by eating nutritious meals he carries with him on the road that can be microwaved in his hotel room. He stayed in Indianapolis last summer to undergo a traditional NBA workout in the mornings followed by mixed martial arts training three afternoons per week. "I was on my knees, punching," he said. "They used to call me BMW back in college -- 'Body Made Wrong.' I've never been able to play 30 minutes, and I'm doing that on a consistent basis now."

Hibbert wants to be an All-Star someday, but his goal last summer was the most improved award. "I made wristbands that had MIP," he said. "I can't wear them in the games -- they're black and I guess we have to wear our team colors -- but that's what drove me to work really hard: MIP, MIP, MIP. Because I want that award."

When the Pacers sent Jermaine O'Neal to Toronto during the 2008 draft as part of the six-player deal that gave them the rights to Hibbert as the No. 17 pick, they were second-guessed for trying to insert a slow half-court center into O'Brien's up-tempo offense. "The offense wasn't going to change, he said that from the beginning," said Hibbert of O'Brien. "So something had to change. It had to be me."

Now they go into next summer with gobs of cap space to fill in around a promising young point guard in 23-year-old Darren Collison, an All-Star scorer on the wing in 27-year-old Granger, and Hibbert, a multiple-threat center. It appears Pacers president Larry Bird knew what he was doing after all.

"Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better." - Albert Camus

"Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well." - Voltaire"Everyone's values are defined by what they will tolerate when it is done to others." - William Greider

Re: Roy Hibbert gets some love from Sports Illustrated Writer

To be fair, teams have learned how to play the Pacers to deny the ball to Roy in an effective place. It was to be expected and is why a player making a great leap at the beginning of a season often doesn't carry it through the entire year.

That said, if Roy can adjust his positioning so he case get back into a passing lane to receive a ball, and if the other Pacer passers can start being able to anticipate some unusual places where he might end up, we could see this pick up.

BillS

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...

Re: Roy Hibbert gets some love from Sports Illustrated Writer

Is anyone else a little tired of his self promoting "swag?" I like the guy, but he's really starting to wear on me. I understand playing like all eyes on you, but there is a difference in playing like it and manufacturing it with all his hand raises.

Make people notice you with your play, not with acting like a doucher. I think he's fairly firm over the "confident" line and into the "arrogant" arena. People notice good basketball, let your play do the talking.

Re: Roy Hibbert gets some love from Sports Illustrated Writer

Is anyone else a little tired of his self promoting "swag?" I like the guy, but he's really starting to wear on me. I understand playing like all eyes on you, but there is a difference in playing like it and manufacturing it with all his hand raises.

Make people notice you with your play, not with acting like a doucher. I think he's fairly firm over the "confident" line and into the "arrogant" arena. People notice good basketball, let your play do the talking.

Re: Roy Hibbert gets some love from Sports Illustrated Writer

Is anyone else a little tired of his self promoting "swag?" I like the guy, but he's really starting to wear on me. I understand playing like all eyes on you, but there is a difference in playing like it and manufacturing it with all his hand raises.

Make people notice you with your play, not with acting like a doucher. I think he's fairly firm over the "confident" line and into the "arrogant" arena. People notice good basketball, let your play do the talking.

Can't say that I agree. Rituals can be quite useful for priming your brain in the ways that you want for the tasks at hand. The way I look at it, he's trying to grow from a guy from whom not much was expected into a go-to type player for the Pacers. That requires a change in thinking and it seems to me that this is just part of what Roy is doing to make a habit of that change. I don't think raising your hands during the introduction is acting like a douche.

Now if it were coupled with Roy being untalented and/or flat out lazy I would have more of a problem with it. If he made a habit of criticizing everybody else while not taking any responsibility for his own play, I'd look at it differently too. But all indications are that the guy is a hard worker and he's pretty hard on himself to boot. I've zero problem with confidence raising exercises in that context.

Last edited by gummy; 12-13-2010 at 04:17 PM.

"Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better." - Albert Camus

"Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well." - Voltaire"Everyone's values are defined by what they will tolerate when it is done to others." - William Greider

Re: Roy Hibbert gets some love from Sports Illustrated Writer

Is anyone else a little tired of his self promoting "swag?" I like the guy, but he's really starting to wear on me. I understand playing like all eyes on you, but there is a difference in playing like it and manufacturing it with all his hand raises.

Make people notice you with your play, not with acting like a doucher. I think he's fairly firm over the "confident" line and into the "arrogant" arena. People notice good basketball, let your play do the talking.

althouhg this is a fair and valid point I will say some athletes really need to create the hype, in order to ovreachieve

Re: Roy Hibbert gets some love from Sports Illustrated Writer

I don't mean his pregame where he walks out with his fists raised, I mean when he makes a play he does it.

I hate it when NFL receivers get a first down and celebrate it. That's what they're paid to do.

Now if he hits a game winning shot and walks around like that, then that's a tad bit different. But a play in the 2nd quarter should be treated like that's what he's supposed to do. I just don't like showboating.

Re: Roy Hibbert gets some love from Sports Illustrated Writer

Is anyone else a little tired of his self promoting "swag?" I like the guy, but he's really starting to wear on me. I understand playing like all eyes on you, but there is a difference in playing like it and manufacturing it with all his hand raises.

Make people notice you with your play, not with acting like a doucher. I think he's fairly firm over the "confident" line and into the "arrogant" arena. People notice good basketball, let your play do the talking.

Just razzing you a bit, S86!

On a serious note, I do LIKE players that bring some swagger to the party. I don't know if it is manufactued but, if it's there in a positive way... I dig it and it really seems to pump fans up in the building when the big fella puts his stamp on his accomplishments during any part of the game.

Re: Roy Hibbert gets some love from Sports Illustrated Writer

Is anyone else a little tired of his self promoting "swag?" I like the guy, but he's really starting to wear on me. I understand playing like all eyes on you, but there is a difference in playing like it and manufacturing it with all his hand raises.

Make people notice you with your play, not with acting like a doucher. I think he's fairly firm over the "confident" line and into the "arrogant" arena. People notice good basketball, let your play do the talking.

I 100% disagree. I love it when our players do it, and opponents hate it.

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Re: Roy Hibbert gets some love from Sports Illustrated Writer

I think Roy is just trying to create excitement. He does that stuff to try and get the fans into it, IMO.

My problem with it, is it doesn't look genuine. (That's my problem with the Kobe..grimace..or whatever you want to call it..or Lebron's "lets throw powder everywhere" or what have you..Kobe's really the king of the non genuine gesture..and I like Kobe) So there's a bit of fakeness to it. It seems forced.

Re: Roy Hibbert gets some love from Sports Illustrated Writer

I don't mean his pregame where he walks out with his fists raised, I mean when he makes a play he does it.

I hate it when NFL receivers get a first down and celebrate it. That's what they're paid to do.

Now if he hits a game winning shot and walks around like that, then that's a tad bit different. But a play in the 2nd quarter should be treated like that's what he's supposed to do. I just don't like showboating.

Whatever, I'm a hater though. (not to you gummy)

Ahhh, I see. I missed that the first time around, probably because I was thinking about it in the context of the article and I see upon re-reading it that you meant in-game stuff. I still don't have a problem with that - everyone in my household is pretty amused by how pumped up Roy gets sometimes...we enjoy it. I suspect much of the in-arena crowd does too.

Simple difference of opinion/perception. No big deal, as far as I am concerned.

"Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better." - Albert Camus

"Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well." - Voltaire"Everyone's values are defined by what they will tolerate when it is done to others." - William Greider